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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Well, I came across a deal I couldn't refuse, so my Yamaha G2 has been replaced by a C3. Here's the story (followed by the mandatory pics of course).

It was made in 1992, and purchased by a family as a showpiece for the living room. A daughter used it briefly and then quit, and it has sat there ever since. It hasn't been tuned since the initial tuning (probably almost 20 years ago), so it sounds terrible right now, but I bought it anyway. The hammers look nearly brand new. I'm gonna polish up the keys, get her tuned, and there you have it. An almost new, low mileage, Yamaha C3 for $9000! I prefer the satin finish on my old one to this glossy one (gloss means you get to see my couch, legs, socks, etc. in the pictures), but it's still gorgeous.

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Playing since age 21 (September 2010) and loving it more every day."You can play better than BachMach2." - Mark_CCurrently Butchering:Chopin Ballade no 1 in G minor Op.23My Piano Diary: http://www.youtube.com/sirsardonic♪ > $

Sam, now that you have that magnificent piano, I hope it keeps you out of taverns! LOL!!!! I know mine makes me want to get home quickly after work, and after 7 months I still feel the thrill to come home and sit right down!

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Marriage is like a card game, you start with two hearts and a diamond, later you wish you had a club and a spade!Yamaha G7 Yamaha CVP75 digital, Allen 3500 theater organ

Thanks for all the kind comments!I'd be happy to post a recording pre and post tuning, although it will hurt your ears really badly to hear it pre tuning. I've been inspecting it more thoroughly, and it's pretty amazing how low the mileage is. The hammers have no grooves at all, except in the middle section which has a tiny amount (visible only if you look from the right angle). I think the action is going to need regulation, because the hammers don't go close enough to the strings, so I can't play pp. It shouldn't be a problem to have my tech do it though.

A couple other interesting notes about the piano...The una corda wasn't working when I went to check out the piano, so I removed the right block next to the action (I forget what it's called) and found an 1877 silver trade dollar (I gave it back. Apparently an uncle has a coin collection and a kid stuck one in the piano). After that, the una corda worked fine. I also heard some rustling when opening and closing the fallboard, so I removed the fallboard to find: a broken Popsicle stick; an old piece of sheet music; and an invitation to a student's recital at Julliard from the 1991-1992 season (the year the piano was made/purchased). It's really amazing to me that someone would spend that much money on a musical instrument only to have it sit in a corner of a living room, totally neglected and uncared for (although, to their credit, they definitely cared for the finish, which is perfect).

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Playing since age 21 (September 2010) and loving it more every day."You can play better than BachMach2." - Mark_CCurrently Butchering:Chopin Ballade no 1 in G minor Op.23My Piano Diary: http://www.youtube.com/sirsardonic♪ > $

It's really amazing to me that someone would spend that much money on a musical instrument only to have it sit in a corner of a living room, totally neglected and uncared for (although, to their credit, they definitely cared for the finish, which is perfect).

"They" say that Steinways are purchased for this at times as well. More $$$ sitting in the corner. Did Madoff play?

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"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything."

Sam, I watched your youtube video. I can't believe you've been playing for only 2 years. You sound amazing.

That's very nice of you

Just out of curiosity, which video did you watch? I haven't recorded much in a long time, because I don't think my playing sounds very good right now (my ear has gotten much better, so I hear all the problems with my playing).

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Playing since age 21 (September 2010) and loving it more every day."You can play better than BachMach2." - Mark_CCurrently Butchering:Chopin Ballade no 1 in G minor Op.23My Piano Diary: http://www.youtube.com/sirsardonic♪ > $

I heard Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu, and the end of the first Ballade. These are both very difficult, and you play with flair, you know, and great musicality. Your technique is good too, well above what I would expect from someone who has been playing for so little time. In fact, so far above I'd believe it if you told me you'd been playing since you were 11. You could probably do a convincing audition for a conservatoire or university playing as you are.

Do you play the staple repertoire of Bach, Beethoven, Czerny, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert?

I heard Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu, and the end of the first Ballade. These are both very difficult, and you play with flair, you know, and great musicality. Your technique is good too, well above what I would expect from someone who has been playing for so little time. In fact, so far above I'd believe it if you told me you'd been playing since you were 11. You could probably do a convincing audition for a conservatoire or university playing as you are.

Do you play the staple repertoire of Bach, Beethoven, Czerny, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert?

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad it's normal for my playing to sound worse, because it's somewhat discouraging at times.

Those recordings are old though, and I don't think they're very good. The Fantaisie Impromptu was taken at just over one year from when I started playing, and it looks like my hands are trying to jump off a cliff or something (and sounds that way too).The end of the ballade is from about 16 months, and it also needed a lot of work (much of that work has been done). I only had an upright when I recorded the end of the ballade; now I'm on my second grand! I really got bit by this bug very hard

I don't play enough repertoire, because my reading is awful. I'm working on that now, instead of new repertoire. The only real pieces I "finished" are the Impromptu and Nocturne in C sharp minor (in fact, the Nocturne is the only recording on my channel that I think is pretty good, although it still has some very rough edges). I say "finished," because I learned them on my own, and I need to comb over everything with my new teacher. The Ballade has a couple missing measures (but I've memorized 98% of it), and it's on the back burner until I get some more important things done.

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Playing since age 21 (September 2010) and loving it more every day."You can play better than BachMach2." - Mark_CCurrently Butchering:Chopin Ballade no 1 in G minor Op.23My Piano Diary: http://www.youtube.com/sirsardonic♪ > $

The way I'm understanding "the ear gets better" to mean that one is listening more critically to one's own playing. Then the subtleties of phrasing, articulation, pedaling, etc., etc., become more apparent to the player and lead to the "feeling worse about your playing syndrome." In fact, you are getting better. That is what practicing and mastery are all about. The cycle is endless, as it should be.

The way I'm understanding "the ear gets better" to mean that one is listening more critically to one's own playing. Then the subtleties of phrasing, articulation, pedaling, etc., etc., become more apparent to the player and lead to the "feeling worse about your playing syndrome." In fact, you are getting better. That is what practicing and mastery are all about. The cycle is endless, as it should be.

Some times I think my piano playing is getting better, much better... then I hear someone play who really know how, and I have second thoughts...

Either way, it's still a lot of fun!

Rick

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Piano enthusiast and amateur musician: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated". Yamaha C7. YouTube Channel